Main navigation

travel

Despite the cold, I find December to be the most wonderful time of year! The City gets all dressed up in its holiday best – gorgeous wreaths, glittering ropes of fairy lights, miles of greenery draped along every stair rail. Every sprig of Christmas cheer brings a smile to my face as I merrily stroll the boulevards.

A visit to the MOCA

Today’s stroll took me through Lower Manhattan down to the Museum of Chinese in America! Housing just two exhibition galleries, its small-size made it perfect for an afternoon visit. The first gallery consists of a historical presentation of the Chinese people and culture in the USA. Though only a handful of rooms, each is filled with a wealth of audio-visual delights. Reading the stories of the challenges these early immigrants faced both fascinated and horrified me. There were a number of pieces on the downright sinister laws in place at various times. What I found particularly unnerving is that a number of them sound frighteningly similar to the kind being passed in Congresses across the country in 2016.

I loved this exhibit and could have sat for days watching the in-depth interviews with each of the chefs. In the main hall lies a massive dinner table with 33 unique place settings with personally selected artifacts from the chef’s kitchens and ceramic vessels linking their cooking styles to regional culinary traditions. If I had planned better, I would have liked to attend one of the in-person events where the chef’s whip up one of their signature meals – Foie Gras Soup Dumplings, anyone?!?

Post Museum Stroll

After visiting the museum, my friends and I stopped nearby for some delicious soup dumplings in Chinatown. I forget the name of the spot, but they were some of the best I’ve had in a while. I had to chuckle when the server automatically brought out two hot teas for my friends (who are Chinese) and an ice water for me. Clearly they know their customers! Belly full and feet well rested, I decided to walk home and enjoy the sights.

Here are a few of my favorite snaps below:

Pretty Purple Party Balloons!

Wall mural in Chinatown

Cool sign outside a tattoo parlour

Another beloved restaurant, Parigot, bites the dust. One of my favorites 🙁

Lazy Sundays bring joy to my weekends. Snuggleriffic duvets, toasty flannel pjs, and piles of pillows make it hard to emerge from my apartment before noon. Last weekend, an early evening “nap” turned into a full night’s rest. I awoke bright-eyed and rather fuzzy mouthed at 7am on a Sunday. Ugh.

What to do? A good book, a hot bath, pulling the covers overhead and praying for oblivion? None of those options seemed right with the bright rays of sun shining on my face. Plus, I could practically hear the last of the autumn birds chirping “Winter is coming. Get out now!!” And so I did.

Hello, Whitney!

Hopping on my local Citibike, I soon wheeled to a stop before The Whitney Museum entrance. I’d been dying to check this place out since it reopened.

I always love tours for the quirky little stories that the guides share about the pieces. On the above left, we find a gorgeous portrait of the The Whitney’s founder, Gertrude Vanderbilt. Nothing about it appears scandalous to our modern eyes, but her husband refused to hang it at home because she was depicted wearing pants!! Oh, the humanity.

Post-tour, I moseyed out to the balcony to snap some shots of the Meatpacking district from on high.

A very Gatsby mural

This guy’s too sexy for his shirt

Alice, is that you here in Wonderland?

Back inside, I discovered Mr. Melty Man, a larger-than-life sized man candle. The guards light him up each morning and let the flames flicker all day long. Three weeks in, his head has toppled to the ground and his shoulders disintegrate by the day. Perhaps I’ll stop by in January to see what’s left of him.

Mr. Melty Man

Mr. Melty Man’s Toppled Head

If you have time, definitely check out the Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight exhibit. I love her geometric aesthetic! She embraces lots of leading lines and angles in her pieces – resulting in some very trippy experiences if you stare too long. Enjoy a couple of my favorites below.

Days of the week. (That horrid orange looks like a Monday to me)

So Sharp!

Four hours in, my tummy gremlins made their displeasure known, so I exited pronto find some nibbles. My wanderings led me to my favorite West Village nook – the 11th St Cafe. I was too hungry to capture the deliciousness, so I’ll just share some pics I snapped along the way.

Last summer, the tastiest of hipster food truck treats lodged here

Why yes, yes, they do!

I gotta get me some of that Love Spray… and maybe that awesome multi-colored leopard shirt.

In the wee small 9am hour of Saturday morning, my friends and I piled into the car with our GPS set to Princeton, NJ. An afternoon of apple-picking, noshing on cider donuts and sipping fresh apple cider were our only goals for the day.

An abundance of apples

Two Beyoncé albums and an Adele singalong later, we arrived at Tehrune Orchards! The greeter warmly welcomed us, supplying tote bags and friendly advice on where to find the best apples. Walking through the gates, we came upon such a pretty sight! Rows and rows of apple shrubs* stretched out for acres. The bright green leaves provided a lovely contrast to the colorful fall foliage surrounding the orchard.

(*I will admit the shrubs confused me. I thought apples grew on TREES, not shrubs. My mental vision for the day had me climbing ladders and stools to access the branches. However, a quick conversation with one of the locals answered that question. It seems modern orchards started growing dwarf trees to make their venues more family friendly. Shorter trees meant little hands wouldn’t need to reach (or be lifted) quite so high to claim their fruity prize. Thought let’s be honest, the harvest costs for dwarf trees are much lower compared to traditionally sized ones. #truth)

We soon spied a tractor hauling folks around the property. I immediately reached for my wallet to search for some cash. Yet, as it passed by the “FREE WAGON RIDE” sign caught my eye. Woohoo! I grabbed my friends and jumped aboard. I may or may not have stepped over a tiny person to secure the corner seats (#noshame).

The ride lasted about 15 minutes, stopping here and there to pick up other sun-baked walkers. I had a blast taking silly pictures and attempting to snag apples from the branches passing by (totally failed).

Free Wagon Rides for the Win!

Shopping at Whole Foods on a weekly basis has ruined my expectations of apple aesthetics. There the apples are practically perfect in every way. In the real world, apples feature a world of blemishes, odd shapes and unexpected coloring. We traipsed through row after row in search of beautiful, shiny apples to carry home. I soon learned perfection doesn’t exist in nature, so my apple tote collected only a few specimens.

Food and Friends, my favorite way to pass a day

Once everyone had reached their fill of apple harvesting, we checked out and headed to the main farm. The time had come for cider donuts part of the day!

Drinking and Dining at the Farmstead

Apparently all of New Jersey had the same “let’s visit an orchard” idea. The farm ranneth over with weekend warriors and their mini-mes. We battled our way through the tourist hordes to reach the home-made treats. Fresh donuts and cider would soon be ours. (I’d been craving both for weeks.) I rolled up to the counter only to encounter pre-assembled bags of donuts! What madness was this? Not only that, the bag had a list of unpronounceable ingredients six miles long.

When I interrogated the cashier, she admitted that the dough arrived pre-mixed each morning and the bakery simply fried, sugared and packaged them. You could hear hear my heart shattering. Further investigations revealed a similar situation with their “home-made” pies and jams. What next? Caramel apples made with stevia? Apple cider made from concentrate? I needed a drink.

Right up the road, we found the farmhouse filled with treats and flowers

Fortunately, the on-site winery offered an answer to my prayers. The 150-year old original barn hosts a wine tasting facility, where two popular bars extend through the space. Eight dollars and a smile lets you wet your whistle with five of their twelve varietals. Red wine puts me in a coma, so I stuck to the whites and fruity options. Though Tehrune Orchards has won numerous awards, none of the wines I tried shouted take me home tonight (cue music). Only the blueberry wine proved memorable – mainly because it tasted like a liquid version of a Blue Razzberry blow-pop (do they still make those? best lolly ever!)

The best days are those that include the tasting of award winning wines

Once the last sips passed our lips, we hopped in the car, cranked up the tunes and headed for the Turnpike. Food, friends, and fun – such a lovely way to pass an afternoon!

Have you ever been apple-picking? Where would you suggest I go next year?